Once again a Star Valley runner has been named the Gatorade Cross-Country Runner of the Year for the state of Wyoming as Peter Visser was named the recipient of the award on Monday.
Visser, a sophomore at SVHS, won the individual 3A cross-country title as the Braves finished as State Runner-Up as a team. His time of (15:56.21) was the fastest of any Wyoming runner regardless of classification. He carries a 3.95 GPA and works at RPM, a family-owned business in Thayne.
Visser is the third SVHS runner to earn this distinction, joining Shane Henderson (2016-17) and Hailey [Ricks] Whetten who earned the distinction twice (2011-12 & 2012-13).
Visser’s coach, Ty Draney says it’s not fair to compare him with other great area runners because every one of them is different.
“Pete’s been in unique position,” he said. “He’s had some talented teammates in Asefa [Wetzel] and Wes [Kallgren] and he’s always embraced that. With injuries and such he’s also stepped up into a leadership role for sure. Everyone progresses differently so it wouldn’t be fair to compare him to some of the others. But at this point in his career he’s run as fast or faster than anyone here ever has so I’m excited to see where he progresses from there.”
Visser has burst onto the scene since reaching the high school, helping the Braves to a Wyoming 3A cross-country team title in 2017 and a Wyoming 3A track & field title in 2018 as a runner in the middle-distance and distance events. He most recently won the 800 meter race at the Olympic Oval in Kearns, Utah this past weekend. He ran at the same venue last month, placing near the top of the podium in the 1600 and 3200 meter events and was the fastest sophomore clocked over the weekend.
Visser is part of a deep SVHS Indoor Track & Field team that has high aspirations for this year’s Wyoming Indoor Track & Field Championships and will be competing in this week’s Simplot Games in Pocatello, Idaho.
“This is kind of a dress rehearsal for the state meet next weekend so we’re trying to fill in a few qualifying marks so that we are in the better heats at state,” Draney said of the event. “It’s one last chance to tune things up before the state meet in Gillette. A bunch of Wyoming schools will be there and even though there is no team score, this will give us a little bit of an idea of where we stand with Sheridan’s depth and Laramie and Natrona’s depth.
Both Visser and Wetzel have goals of running in Saturday’s finals. Draney admits it’s hard to foresee what may happen.
“It’s hard to say; All of the U.S.; all of Canada; there are athletes from all over the place,” he continued. “I do know that Pete loves to compete, maybe more than any other kid I’ve ever coached. He likes to throw down and see where he stacks up. With the venue and the time, we’re hoping he and Asefa will go through to the finals on Saturday which is the top runners. Obviously a lot can happen but barring weirdness if we run to our potential we could have both of them in there.”
